What journey did Marco Polo take? Evaluation of the book by modern researchers

Why was the explorer Marco Polo given the nickname “A Thousand Fables”? In the 13th century, Kithai, as China was then called, was an unfamiliar country to Europeans, full of secrets and wonders. When Marco Polo turned eighteen, he was invited by his father Niccolo and uncle Matteo

What is the book of Marco Polo about? “The Book” of Marco Polo is one of the rare medieval works: a lively account of an eyewitness and participant in the events is combined in it with the meticulousness of a scientific researcher. It is curious that in the XIV–XV centuries it was used as

Can Marco Polo be trusted? Although the attitude of contemporaries towards the “Book” was ambiguous, in the 14th–15th centuries. The work of the Venetian served as one of the manuals for drawing up geographical maps of Asia. It played a special role in the era of great geographical discoveries.Leaders

Why was the traveler Marco Polo called “A Thousand Fables” by his fellow countrymen? In the 13th century, Kithai, as China was then called, was an unfamiliar country to Europeans, full of secrets and wonders. When Marco Polo turned eighteen, he was invited by his father Niccolo and uncle Matteo

So, who is Marco Polo? This is the most famous medieval Italian traveler (if you follow the path of Marco Polo on a map, it turns out that he traveled half the world) and writer. The book “On the Diversity of the World” became a bestseller and sold out in huge quantities throughout Europe.

Despite the fact that the accuracy of the facts presented in it is doubtful, this work is still considered a valuable source containing the most important information on the history, ethnography and geography of the Middle Eastern and Asian regions.

Attention! It is known that he used the book during his sea travels. In particular, with the help of it, the Italian tried to find the shortest route to India. This book has survived to this day. It is known that Columbus made more than 70 notes in its margins.

Brief biography of the Venetian traveler

There are a lot of blank spots in the biography of the famous merchant. Historians do not doubt the fact of its existence, but some points have not been fully studied yet.

Family

In particular, it is unknown where and when the traveler was born. There are several versions of the origin:

1. The father was the merchant Niccolo Polo. The son was born between 1254–1261. in Venice (official years of life: 1254–1324) and was the only child in the family, since at the time of birth his father had already left for China, and his mother died before her husband returned.
2. The father was from Dolmatia (Croatia) and moved to Venice only in the middle of the 19th century. Perhaps by that time the future traveler had already been born, since there is no information about birth in the Republic in the archives of Venice. If we follow this version, it turns out that Niccolò was a Dalmatian and not a Venetian merchant. In Venice, he and his brothers had only a trading post.

The journey of a father and his brothers

By the 13th century, Venetian traders had taken leading positions in the Mediterranean. They were the main importers of valuable goods from Africa. But this was not enough.

The heads of the largest trading houses in Venice turned their gaze to the East. Their mysterious and richest Asia beckoned, which could offer European businessmen a variety of different, elite and incredibly expensive goods.

Niccolo was the head of one of the most successful trading houses in Venice and, of course, wanted to conquer the eastern markets. Together with his brother Matteo, he went to the Crimea, to the city of Sudak. There was a trading post there, led by another brother of theirs, Marco. This trip took place sometime between 1253–1260.

From Sudak the brothers went to the capital of the Golden Horde, Sarai-Batu. There they spent a year, and then went on to Bukhara, where they stayed for another 3 years (at this moment there was actually a war between Batu and Berke, the Mongol khans from the Genghisid clan, who were rivals). From Bukhara with a Persian caravan they moved to Khanbalik (Beijing), where at that time another Genghisid ruled - Kublai (Kublay). By the time of his arrival, Kublai had completely conquered China and became the Great Khan.

In Beijing, the brothers stayed for a year, were received by the khan, received from him a golden paiza, which made it possible to freely travel through the territory of the Mongol Empire, and they were also given instructions - convey a message from Khubilai to the Pope. The Great Khan wanted Catholic missionaries from .

The brothers returned to Venice only in 1271. At the same time, Niccolo learned that his wife had died and that he had a fully grown 16-year-old son.

Travel to China and life at the court of the Great Khan

In 1271, the entire family (father, son and father's brothers) made a trip to Jerusalem. From there the merchants set off on their way back to China. In 1275, Marco with his father and uncle arrived in Shandu. It can be said that the young Venetian did a brilliant career at the Khan's court. He writes that he was a military adviser to the khan, as well as the governor of one of the Chinese provinces.

Attention! The traveler wrote that he spent about 17 years in China. The chronology in the book is not always accurate, but the geographical and ethnographic descriptions, descriptions of the customs that existed in the Middle Kingdom at that time are as detailed as possible.

The family managed to return to their homeland, Venice, only in the 90s of the 13th century. The merchants took advantage of the marriage of one of the Mongol princesses, volunteering to accompany her by sea to her groom in Persia.

Book

In Venice no one doubted the reality of the family's trip(Marco Polo’s path is shown very clearly on the map of the Republic at that time).

Upon his return, the merchant managed to fight with the Genoese and even spend some time in a Genoese prison.

It was in conclusion that the book was written. More precisely, it was not the traveler who wrote, but his cellmate Rusticiano.

Marco dictated his notes and thoughts to him.

Attention! No authentic handwritten text has survived. Some researchers believe that a mixture of Old French and Italian was used, while others believe that a little-known Venetian dialect was used. One way or another, only lists from the original manuscript have survived to our time.

The book originally consisted of four parts:

• the first part is about the journey to China through the countries that Marco visited;
• the second part is the customs of the Celestial Empire and the court of the Great Khan;
• the third part is a description of the countries of Southeast Asia, Japan and India;
• the fourth part is a story about the wars waged by the Mongols.

The Way of Marco Polo on the map(according to his book) looks like this:

• there: Venice - Jerusalem - Akka - Baghdad - Hormuz - Kerman - Kashkar - Karakorum - Beijing - Chengdu - Pagan - Beijing;
• back: Beijing - through all of Southeast Asia, Hindustan and the Middle East by sea - Hormuz - Tabriz - Constantinople - Venice.

The book was translated into many languages. It is clear that during the rewriting and translation, errors and inaccuracies were made; perhaps entire fragments of the authentic text were thrown out or fantastic additions were made; as a result, Marco Polo’s path on the map was partially changed.

Last years of life

Not much is known about the last years of the life of the Venetian traveler, but all data is documented. The merchant was married to a noble Venetian woman, had several houses and offices in Venice, was involved in business, and participated in litigation.

The couple had three children, all girls. Two married merchants from Dolmatia (possibly version about the Croatian origin of the family and is correct).

Died in 1324. He was buried in the Church of San Lorenzo.

The fake journey version

Some modern researchers doubt that the famous merchant actually made such a journey and lived in China for a long time. They argue their point of view by the fact that the book contains chronological inaccuracies and there is no mention of:

• hieroglyphs;
• book printing;
• porcelain;
• gunpowder;
• Great Wall;
• traditions of tea drinking and foot binding for women.

Skeptics also point out that there is not a word in Chinese sources about the presence of the Venetians at the court of the Great Khan.

Arguments in defense of the traveler

Many historians believe that Polo actually made the journey, and did not glean information from the lips of Persian merchants. Proponents of this version say that

• spoke Mongolian and Persian perfectly, he did not need to know the Chinese language (especially writing), since Mongolian was the official language at court;
• he knew little about the traditions of China and the Chinese, since he lived rather separately, and the Chinese themselves did not favor European barbarians;
• did not describe the Great Wall of China, since it was completely completed only during the Ming Dynasty;
• I wrote from memory, so topographical, geographical and historical inaccuracies are quite acceptable.

As for Chinese chronicles, Europeans were rarely mentioned there at all. But in the chronicle of Yuan-Shi there is a mention of a certain Po-Lo, who lived and worked at the court of the Great Khan.

Attention! The Venetian's book contains many interesting facts about the life of the court of Kublai Khan. An outsider could hardly be so knowledgeable about the smallest details of everyday life and court intrigues.

What Marco Polo discovered

It cannot be said that Marco Polo's family became pioneer of the trade route to China. It also cannot be said that this was the first contact between Europeans and Chinese.

Historians know that the Roman emperors managed to establish contact with the Chinese Han dynasty, that in Chinese chronicles there are references to certain merchants from the countries of the “midnight sun”

(perhaps we were talking about Scandinavians or Slavs from Novgorod the Great, who made long expeditions even before the Tatar-Mongol invasion), that shortly before the journey of his father and uncles, an envoy of the French king Louis IX visited China.

However, the journey of Marco Polo and his subsequent detailed description provided an opportunity for Europeans to learn a lot about China and the Chinese. In Europe they started talking about paper money, coal, and sago palms. A detailed description of the cultivation of spices and the places where they were traded made it possible for European merchants to eliminate the Arab monopoly on this type of trade.

Marco Polo, travel map, biography

Brief biography of the traveler Mark Polo

Conclusion

In general, the travels of this family did an incredible thing - they brought Europe and Asia as close as possible. Marco Polo and his relatives visited many countries, thereby the Venetian merchants proved that overland travel through the Mongol Empire could be relatively safe, and therefore profitable. The question of who is Marco Polo and what did he do for rapprochement between Europe and Asia, can be considered sufficiently studied.

Marco Polo - famous Italian traveler, Venetian merchant, writer.

Documents about Marco’s birth have not been preserved, so all information is approximate and inaccurate. It is well known that he was born into a merchant family that was engaged in the trade of jewelry and spices. He was a nobleman, had a coat of arms and belonged to the Venetian nobility. Polo became a merchant by inheritance: his father’s name was Nicolo, and it was he who introduced his son to travel in order to open new trade routes. Marco did not know his mother, since she died during childbirth, and this event happened when Nicolo Polo was far from Venice, on his next trip. His paternal aunt raised the boy until Nicolo returned from a long journey with his brother Maffeo.

Education

There are no documents surviving about whether Marco studied anywhere. But it is a known fact that he dictated his book to his cellmate, the Pisan Rusticiano, while he was a prisoner of the Genoese. It is known that he later learned many languages ​​during his travels, but whether he knew how to read and write is still a controversial question.

Life path

Marco made his first trip with his father to Jerusalem in 1271. After this, his father sent his ships to China, to Kublai Khan, at whose court the Polo family lived for 15 years. The Khan liked Marco Polo for his fearlessness, independence and good memory. He, according to his own book, was close to the khan and participated in solving many state issues. Together with the khan, he recruited the great Chinese army and suggested that the ruler use catapults in military operations. Kublai appreciated the agile and intelligent Venetian youth beyond his years. Marco traveled to many Chinese cities, carrying out the most difficult diplomatic assignments of the khan. Possessing a good memory and powers of observation, he delved into the life and way of life of the Chinese, studied their language, and never tired of marveling at their achievements, which sometimes surpassed even European discoveries in their level. Everything that Marco saw in China over the years he lived in this amazing country, he described in his book. Shortly before leaving for Venice, Marco was appointed ruler of one of the Chinese provinces - Jiangnan.

Kublai never agreed to let his favorite go home, but in 1291 he sent the entire Polo family to accompany one of the Mongol princesses, married to the Persian ruler, to Hormuz, an Iranian island. During this trip, Marco visited Ceylon and Sumatra. In 1294, while they were still on the road, they received news of the death of Kublai Khan. Polo no longer had any reason to return to China, so it was decided to go home to Venice. The dangerous and difficult path lay through the Indian Ocean. Of the 600 people who sailed from China, only a few managed to reach their final destination.

In his homeland, Marco Polo participates in the war with Genoa, with which Venice competed for the right to maritime trade routes. Marco, participating in one of the naval battles, is captured, where he spends several months. It was here that he dictated his famous book to his fellow sufferer, the Pisan Rusticiano, who found himself in the same cell with him.

Nicolo Polo was not sure that his son would return alive from captivity and was very worried that their family line could be interrupted. Therefore, the prudent merchant remarried, and in this marriage he had 3 more sons - Stefano, Maffio, Giovanni. Meanwhile, his eldest son, Marco, returns from captivity.

Upon his return, things are going great for Marco: he marries successfully, buys a big house, and is called Mr. Million in the city. However, the townspeople mocked their compatriot, considering this eccentric merchant a liar who tells tales about distant lands. Despite the material well-being of the last years of his life, Marco yearns for travel and in particular for China. He was never able to get used to Venice, until the end of his days remembering the love and hospitality of Kublai. The only thing that made him happy in Venice were the carnivals, which he attended with great pleasure, as they reminded him of the splendor of Chinese palaces and the luxury of the khan’s outfits.

Personal life

Returning from captivity in 1299, Marco Polo married a rich, noble Venetian Donata, and in this marriage they had three lovely daughters: Bellela, Fantina, Maretta. However, it is known that Marco was very sorry that he did not have a son who could inherit his merchant property.

Death

Marco Polo was ill and died in 1324, leaving a prudent will. He was buried in the Church of San Lorenzo, which was demolished in the 19th century. The luxurious house of Marco Polo burned down at the end of the 14th century.

Polo's main achievements

• Marco Polo is the author of the famous “Book of the Diversity of the World,” about which controversy still does not subside: many question the reliability of the facts described in it. However, it does a very masterful job of telling the story of Polo's journey through Asia. This book has become an invaluable source on the ethnography, geography and history of Iran, Armenia, China, India, Mongolia, and Indonesia in the Middle Ages. It became a reference book for such great travelers as Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama.

Important dates in Polo's biography

• 1254 - birth
• 1271 - first trip with father to Jerusalem
• 1275–1290 - life in China
• 1291–1295 - return to Venice
• 1298–1299 - war with Genoa, captivity, “Book of the Diversity of the World”
• 1299 - marriage
• 1324 - death

• Croatia and Poland claim the right to be called the Homeland of Marco Polo: the Croats found documents according to which the family of the Venetian merchant lived on the territory of their state until 1430, and the Poles claim that “Polo” is not a surname at all, but the national identity of the great traveler.
• By the end of his life, Marco Polo turned into a rather stingy, stingy man who sued his own relatives over money. However, it still remains mysterious to historians why Marco, shortly before his death, set one of his slaves free and bequeathed to him a fairly large sum of money from his inheritance. According to one version, the slave Peter was a Tatar, and Marco did this in memory of his friendship with the Mongol Khan Kublai Khan. Perhaps Peter accompanied him on his famous journey and knew that most of the stories in his master’s book were far from fiction.
• In 1888, a butterfly, Marco Polo's Jaundice, was named in honor of the great explorer.

And the traveler who presented the story of his journey through Asia in the famous “Book on the Diversity of the World.” Despite doubts about the reliability of the facts presented in this book, expressed from the moment of its appearance to the present time, it serves as a valuable source on geography, ethnography, history of Armenia, Iran, China, Mongolia, India, Indonesia and other countries in the Middle Ages. This book had a significant influence on sailors, cartographers, and writers of the 14th-16th centuries. In particular, she was on the ship of Christopher Columbus during his search for a route to India; According to researchers, Columbus made 70 marks on it. In his honor, in 1888, a butterfly from the genus Jaundice was named - Marco Polo Jaundice ( Colias marcopolo).

Origin

Marco Polo was born into the family of a Venetian merchant, Nicolo Polo, whose family was involved in the jewelry and spice trade. Since there are no surviving birth certificates for Marco Polo, the traditional version of his birth in Venice was challenged in the 19th century by Croatian researchers, who argue that the first evidence of the Polo family in Venice dates back to the second half of the 13th century, where they are referred to as Poli di Dalmazia , while up until 1430 the Polo family owned a house in Korcula, now in Croatia.

In addition, there is a version, unrecognized by most researchers, according to which Marco Polo was a Pole. In this case, “polo” is written with a small letter and indicates not the surname, but the nationality.

The first voyage of Marco Polo's father and uncle

Venetian and Genoese merchants, who had achieved trading power in the Mediterranean in the thirteenth century, could not remain indifferent to the explorations undertaken by daring travelers in Central Asia, India and China. They understood that these travels opened up new markets for them and that trade with the East promised them innumerable benefits. Thus, the interests of trade were bound to lead to the exploration of new countries. It was for this reason that two major Venetian merchants undertook a journey to East Asia.

In 1260, Nicolo, Marco's father, together with his brother Maffeo, went to the Crimea (to Sudak), where their third brother, also named Marco, had his own trading house. Then they moved along the same route along which Guillaume de Rubruk passed in 1253. After spending a year in Saray-Batu, the brothers moved on to Bukhara. Due to the danger of hostilities waged by Khan Berke (Batu's brother) in this region, the brothers were forced to postpone their return home. After staying in Bukhara for three years and unable to return home, they joined the Persian caravan, which sent Khan Hulagu to Khanbalik (modern Beijing) to his brother, the Mongol Khan Kublai Khan, who by that time had practically completed the defeat of the Chinese Song dynasty and soon became the sole ruler Mongol Empire and China.

In the winter of 1266, the brothers reached Beijing and were received by Kublai Kublai, who, according to the brothers, gave them a golden paiza for a free journey back and asked them to convey a message to the Pope asking him to send him oils from the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem and preachers of Christianity. The Mongolian ambassador went to the Vatican with his brothers, however, he fell ill on the way and fell behind. On the way, Niccolò learned about the death of his wife and the birth of a son, who was born a few days after his departure, in 1254, and named Marco. Arriving in Venice in 1269, the brothers discovered that Pope Clement IV had died and a new one had never been appointed. Wanting to quickly fulfill Kublai's instructions, they decided not to wait for the appointment of a new pope, and in 1271 they went to Jerusalem, taking Marco with them.

The Journey of Marco Polo

Road to China

The new journey to China passed through Mesopotamia, Pamir and Kashgaria.

Travels 1271-1295

Life in China

The first Chinese city to which the Polo family reached in 1275 was Shazha (modern Dunhuang). That same year they reached Kublai Kublai's summer residence in Shangdu (in modern Gansu province of China). According to Polo, the khan admired him, gave him various instructions, did not allow him to return to Venice, and even kept him governor of the city of Yangzhou for three years (Chapter CXLIV, Book 2). In addition, the Polo family (according to the book) participated in the development of the Khan's army and taught him to use catapults in the siege of fortresses.

Descriptions of Polo's life in China rarely follow chronological order, making it difficult to determine the exact route of his travels. But its description is quite accurate geographically; it gives orientation by cardinal directions and distances in terms of days of the route: “To the south of Panshin, one day’s journey away, is the large and noble city of Kaiu”. In addition, Polo describes the daily life of the Chinese, mentioning the use of paper money, typical crafts and culinary traditions of various areas. He stayed in China for fifteen years.

Return to Venice

Marco Polo in China

Despite numerous requests from the Polo family, Khan did not want to let them go, but in 1291 he married one of the Mongol princesses to the Persian Ilkhan Arghun. To organize her safe journey, he equipped a detachment of fourteen ships, allowed the Polo family to join as official representatives of the khan, and sent a flotilla to Hormuz. During the voyage, the Polos visited Sumatra and Ceylon and returned to Venice in 1295 through Iran and the Black Sea.

Life after returning

Very little is known about his life after returning from China. According to some reports, he took part in the war with Genoa. Around 1298, Polo was captured by the Genoese and remained there until May 1299. His travel stories were recorded by another prisoner, Rustichello (Rusticiano), who also wrote chivalric romances. According to some sources, the text was dictated in the Venetian dialect, according to others, it was written in Old French with inserts in Italian. Due to the fact that the original manuscript has not survived, it is not possible to establish the truth.

After his release from Genoese captivity, he returned to Venice, got married and from this marriage he had three daughters (two were married to merchants from Dalmatia, which, according to some researchers, confirms the hypothesis of his Croatian origin, but the wife herself was from the famous Venetian family, which rather speaks of the well-established connections of the Polo family in Venice). He also had a house on the corner of Rio di San Giovanni Crisostomo and Rio di San Lio streets. There are documents that he was involved in two minor lawsuits.

In 1324, already an ill man, Polo wrote his will, which mentioned the golden paiza received from Tatar Khan(he received it from his uncle Maffeo, who in turn bequeathed it to Marco in 1310). Also in 1324, Marco died and was buried in the church of San Lorenzo. In 1596, his house (where, according to legend, the things he brought from the Chinese campaign were kept) burned down. The church in which he was buried was demolished in the 19th century.

Researchers about the book

Il milione

The book of Marco Polo is one of the most popular objects of historical research. The bibliography, compiled in 1986, contains more than 2,300 scientific works in European languages ​​alone.

From the moment he returned to the city, stories from the trip were viewed with disbelief. Peter Jackson mentions as one of the reasons for mistrust reluctance to accept his description of a well-ordered and hospitable Mongol Empire, which contradicted the traditional Western view of barbarians. In turn, in 1995, Frances Wood, curator of the Chinese collection of the British Museum, published a popular book in which she questioned the very fact of Polo's travel to China, suggesting that the Venetian did not travel beyond Asia Minor and the Black Sea, but simply used the ones known to him. descriptions of the travels of Persian merchants. For example, in his book, Marco Polo writes that he helped the Mongols during the siege of the Song base in Sanyang, but the siege of this base ended in 1273, that is, two years before his arrival in China. There are other shortcomings in his book that raise questions among researchers.

Previous contacts with China

One of the myths surrounding this book is the idea of ​​Polo as the first contact between Europe and China. Even without the suggestion of contact between the Roman Empire and the Han dynasty, the Mongol conquests of the 13th century eased the route between Europe and Asia (since it now passed through the territory of almost one state).

In Khubilai's archives from 1261 there is a reference to European merchants from Lands of the Midnight Sun, probably Scandinavian or Novgorod. On their first journey, Nicolo and Maffeo Polo followed the same route as Guillaume de Rubruck, indeed sent by Pope Innocent IV, reaching the then Mongol capital of Karakorum and returning in 1255. The description of his route was known in medieval Europe and could have been known to the Polo brothers on their first journey.

During Polo's stay in China, a native of Beijing, Rabban Sauma, came to Europe, and the missionary Giovanni Montecorvino, on the contrary, went to China. Published in 1997 by David Selbourne, the text of the Italian Jew James of Ancona, who allegedly visited China in 1270-1271, shortly before Polo, is, according to most Hebraists and Sinologists, a hoax.

Unlike previous travelers, Marco Polo created a book that gained great popularity and throughout the Middle Ages competed in public success with the fantastic journey of John Mandeville (the prototype of which was Odorico Pordenone).

Book versions

Little is known about Marco Polo's literacy rate. It is likely that he could keep commercial records, but it is unknown whether he could write text. The text of the book was dictated by him to Rustichello, probably in his native language, Venetian, or in Latin, but Rustichello could also write it in French, in which he wrote novels. The process of writing a book could significantly affect the reliability and completeness of its content: Marco excluded from his description those memories that were of no interest to him as a merchant (or were obvious to him), and Rustichello could omit or interpret at his own discretion memories that were not of interest to him. interest or already incomprehensible to him. It can also be assumed that Rustichello was only involved in some of the four books, and Polo could have other “co-authors”.

Soon after its appearance, the book was translated into Venetian, Latin (different translations from the Venetian and French versions), and back into French from the Latin version. In the process of translation and rewriting, books were changed, text fragments were added or deleted. The oldest surviving manuscript (Manuscript F) is significantly shorter than the others, but textual evidence suggests that the other surviving manuscripts are based on more complete original texts.

Fragments that raise doubts

Significant omissions

Francis Wood notes that neither hieroglyphs, printing, tea, porcelain, the practice of foot-binding of women, nor the Great Wall of China are mentioned in Polo's book. The arguments put forward by proponents of travel authenticity are based on the specific process of the book's creation and Polo's purpose in conveying his memories.

Polo knew Persian (the language of international communication at that time), while living in China, he learned Mongolian (the language of the Chinese administration during this period), but did not need to learn Chinese. As a member of the Mongol administration, he lived at a distance from Chinese society (which, according to him, had a negative view of European barbarians), had little interaction with his daily life, and was unable to observe many of the traditions evident only in the household.

To a man who had not received a formal education and was a stranger to literature, local books represented “Chinese literacy,” but Polo describes in detail the production of paper money, which differs little from the printing of books.

Tea was by that time widely known in Persia, so it was of no interest to the author; similarly, it is not mentioned in Arabic and Persian descriptions of that time.

Porcelain was mentioned briefly in the book.

Regarding foot binding, one of the manuscripts (Z) mentions that Chinese women walk in very small steps, but this is not explained more fully.

The Great Wall as we know it today was built during the Ming Dynasty. In the time of Marco Polo, these were mostly earthworks, which did not form a continuous wall, but were limited to the most militarily vulnerable areas. For the Venetian, fortifications of this kind may not have been of significant interest.

Inaccurate descriptions

Descriptions of Marco Polo are full of inaccuracies. This applies to the names of individual cities and provinces, their relative locations, as well as descriptions of objects in these cities. A famous example is the description of the bridge near Beijing (now named after Marco Polo), which actually has half as many arches as described in the book.

In Marco Polo's defense, it can be said that his description was from memory, he was familiar with Persian and used Persian names, which were often also inconsistent in their rendering of Chinese names. Some inaccuracies were introduced when translating or rewriting the book, so some surviving manuscripts are more accurate than others. In addition, in many cases Polo did use second-hand information (especially when describing historical or fantastic events that happened before his journey). Many other contemporary descriptions also suffer from this kind of inaccuracy, which cannot be blamed on the fact that their authors were not in that place at that time.

Role at court

The honor shown by Kublai to the young Polo, his appointment as governor of Yangzhou, the absence of Chinese or Mongolian official records about the presence of merchants in China for almost twenty years, according to Frances Wood, look unreliable. As evidence of Polo's presence in China, there is, for example, a single reference from 1271 in which Pagba Lama, a close adviser to Kublai Kublai, mentions in his diary a foreigner on friendly terms with the Khan, but it does not indicate either name or nationality, nor the length of stay of that foreigner in China.

However, in his book, Polo demonstrates such awareness of events at the court of the khan, which is difficult to acquire without proximity to the court. Thus, in Chapter LXXXV (On the treacherous plan to revolt the city of Kambala), he, emphasizing his personal presence at the events, describes in detail the various abuses of Minister Ahmad and the circumstances of his murder, naming the name of the killer (Wanzhu), which exactly corresponds to Chinese sources.

This episode is especially important because the Chinese dynastic chronicle Yuan-shi mentions the name of Po-Lo as a person who was part of the commission investigating the murder and stood out for sincerely telling the emperor about Ahmad's abuses.

It was common practice to use Chinese nicknames for foreigners, making it difficult to find mentions of Polo's name in other Chinese sources. Many Europeans who officially visited the center of the Mongol empire during this period, such as de Rubruk, received no mention at all in Chinese annals.

Return from China

The description of the return journey is the most convincing evidence that the Polo family was indeed in China and was on fairly friendly relations with the Khan's court. Polo in his book describes in detail the preparation of the trip, the route and the number of participants, which are confirmed by Chinese archival records. He also gives the names of three ambassadors, two of whom died on the road to Hormuz, and whose names were not known outside China.

Evaluation of the book by modern researchers

Most modern researchers reject Frances Wood's opinion about the complete fabrication of the entire trip, considering it an unsubstantiated attempt to make money on a sensation.

A more productive (and generally accepted) point of view is to look at this book as a source of merchant records about places to buy goods, routes for their movement and the circumstances of life in these countries. Even the second-hand information in this account (for example, about the trip to Russia) is quite accurate, and most of the information about the geography of China and other countries along the travel route is also quite consistent with modern knowledge of the history and geography of China. In turn, these notes of the merchant were supplemented with fragments about life in exotic countries that were interesting to the general public.

It is possible that Polo's role in China is greatly exaggerated in his book, but this error may be attributed to the author's boasting, the embellishment of the copyists, or problems of the translators, as a result of which the role of adviser may have been transformed into the post of governor.

See also

• Ali Ekber Hatay - Ottoman traveler to China

Notes

Literature

• A book about the diversity of the world. Edition: Giovanni del Plano Carpini. History of the Mongols., Guillaume de Rubruk. Travels to Eastern countries., Book of Marco Polo. M. Thought. 1997, translation: I. M. Minaev
• The Book of Marco Polo, trans. from Old French text, intro. Art. I. P. Magidovich, M., 1955 (literature available).
• Same. Alma-Ata, 1990.
• Hart G., The Venetian Marco Polo, trans. from English, M.: Foreign Publishing House. literature, 1956;
• Hart G. Venetian Marco Polo = Henry H. Hart, Venetian Adventurer Messer Marko Polo / Trans. from English N.V. Bannikova; preface and editing by I. P. Magidovich. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2001. - 368 p. - 6,000 copies. - ISBN 5-227-01492-2 (Reprint of 1956 book)
• Yurchenko A. G. The book of Marco Polo: Notes of a Traveler or Imperial Cosmography / Translations from Latin and Persian by S. V. Aksenov (PhD). - St. Petersburg. : Eurasia, 2007. - 864 p. - 2,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-8071-0226-6(in translation)
• The book of sir Marco Polo, the Venetian..., 3 ed., v. 1-2, L., 1921.
• Magidovich I. P., Magidovich V. I. Essays on the history of geographical discoveries. M., 1982. T. 1. P. 231-235.
• Drege, J.-P., Marco Polo and the Silk Road, Moscow, 2006, ISBN 5-17-026151-9.
• Dubrovskaya D.V., Marco Polo: the presumption of innocence, magazine “Around the World” No. 3, 2007.

Links

• Polo, Marco. Eastern Literature. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2011.

• Polo, Marco in the library of Maxim Moshkov: A book about the diversity of the world. Translation by I. P. Minaev.
• V. Dubovitsky Venetians. In the land of rubies, or what Marco Polo wrote about Badakhshan